subject: Electronic Cigarettes: The Health Debate [print this page] Electric cigarettes were made with one main motive: to serve as a safer alternative to smoking. But is this true?
Health-wise
From a medical standpoint, when a healthy person puffs on an e-cig, his lungs undergo acute physiological changes. Now, take an instance of a person who suffers from COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), using these cigarettes to help him quit smoking! This was the logic used by medics and health advocates to question the health in e-cigs. According to a recent report by Reuters Health, it has been found that smoking e-cigs results into instant changes in a persons airways. These findings for a product that is marketed as a safe alternative to tobacco smoking raises a lot of questions as regards the real effects of the cigars that manufacturers choose to keep to themselves. Though there have not been any conclusive findings on the products effect to ones health, FDA and scientists agree that there are far too many answered questions. These questions have led to many scientists taking on the research to determine if in actual sense the product is indeed a safer alternative to tobacco smoking.
Research
One of the researchers who have made it their duty to determine the health standing of e-cigs is Constantine I. Vardavas. He is the lead researcher at the Center for Global Tobacco Control in Harvard School of Public Health. According to his research, just puffing on one e-cig produces acute physiologic effects. So how did he come to this conclusion? Well, during the study, his team assembled two groups- 30 members in an experimental group and 10 in a control group. Both groups were made up of healthy smokers. Healthy smokers are basically people who smoke but have not been diagnosed with lung disease, acute illness, or any other ailment associated with smoking. To this sample, the research team asked them to puff on an e-cig for five minutes to determine its effects to the airways. After the five minutes, each member of the sample underwent several; breathing tests. The results indicated that using the e-cig for 5 minutes caused an increase in impedance, peripheral airway flow resistance and oxidative stress. Therefore, according to the research team, the effects would be more adverse on smokers who use the cigarette daily and for longer periods of time. This has prompted the need for more research to determine whether these short-term effects translate into any long-term health risks.
Bottom-line
But just like any other product in the market, the e-cig does have its favorable side. It bears a number of qualities that make it indeed a safer alternative to tobacco smoking. One, while smoking, the e-cig does not burn up, meaning there is no smoke produced, in turn making it safe for those around you and for the environment at large. Also, the fact that they dont burn means that there is no ash produced and no cigarette remains are left, helping keep the environment clean. Moreover, the cigar does not have many of the harmful chemicals found in the ordinary tobacco cigar. E-cigs contain only nicotine, water, propylene glycol, glycerol and flavoring, all of which have FDA approval.
